National Republican., 1887-08-08
worlo. A life insurance would have hlndercu

public meeting and declared "When l came
TO Edinpurgh, the people sometimes laughed
brela, and they said / looked like n commou
powman, and they derided me because |
lived in a house for which l paid ihirty-nve |
pounds rent n year, and oftentmes walked |
when I would have been very glad to have
cab; but, gentlemen, did all that because |
wanted to pay. the premium on life insur. |
ance that would keep my family comfortable |
II / should die" That take to be tho right |
expression of an honest. Intelligent, Christian |
The utter Indifference of many people on
this important subject accounts for much OF
the crime and the pauperism OF this day
Who arc these children sweeping the crossings
penny as you go by2 Who are these lost souls
gliding under the goslght, IN thin shawls.
All, they are victims of want in many OF the
might have prohibited It. God only knows
how they struggled to do right; They prayed
until the ozS On ser efSs hSSy
enough money 10 pay the rent, they
could no, get enough money to decently
wreiched home the angel Of purity and the
angel OF crime fought a great fight between
the empty bread tray. and the flreless hearth,
/ have won the day" Says some man, ii
believe what you say; II Is right aud Christian,
and mean some time to attend to this mat
comfort OF your household in the same way the
sinner loses heaven, by procrastination. sec all
around me the destitute and suffering families
this Christian duty. Daring the process OF
adjournment the man gets his feet wet, then
comes chill and deliium, and the doleful
shake Of the Doctors head, and the obsequies.
II there be anything more ptiable than a
woman delicately brought up, and her mar
rIage day by an indulgent father given TO a
man TO whom she is the chief Joy and pride
OF life until the moment of his death, and
then hat same woman going out with help.
less children at her back 10 struggle for bread
In q worldswhere brawney muscle and rug red
soul are Ieccssary-I soy, II there be any.
thing more pitiable than thst-I do not know
what 1t is; And yet there are good women
bands duty In this respect and there are those
positively hostile as though life insurance
subjected man TO some fatality There Is iu
Brooklyn to-day very poor woman keeping
a small candy snop who vehemenlly opposed
the insurance Of her husbands life. and when
application had been made for policy OF ten
neyf have document In the house that i'm
Piled 1t was possible for her husband ever to
oie; One day ~ quick revolution evolution Of ma;
with annoying tug, making tho half
| OF a miserable living. Her two children have
may be clothed and sehooled, aud her lie Is
| to be prolonged hardship. Oh man, before
| forty.eight hours have passed away, appear to
SVe the @ of be phys
|
| clan put to your heart and lungs, and by the
| seal of some honest company decree that your
children shall not be subjected TO the humilia-
| tion of financial struggle In the day of your
| demise.
But / must ask the men engaged In life In
surance business whether they feel the impor.
| tance of their trust, and charge them must
| that they need Divine grace to help them in
their work; In this day, when. there arc so
many riyalries, in your line Of business you
assets and the extent Of the surplus, and you
will be tempted to abuse the. franchise Of tho
company; and make up the deficits of one year
tempted to send out mean, anonymous
circulars derosatory to other companies, for
| getful of the fact that anonymous communl-
cation means only two things: The cowardice
Of the author and the ineniciency of the police
in allowing such thing to be dated anywhere
save inside of a penitentiary. Under the
mighty pressure many have gone down, and
| you will follow them II you have too much
Con1dence in yourself and do not appeal to
belong to that mlscrcant class of peo-
i,y, organize ( ny, themselves into what
tended capital OF two hundred thousand dol
lars or three hundred thousand dollars, then
vote yourself into the lucrative position, aud
then take all the premiums for yourself, aud
| then, at the approach Of the state superintend.
| ent, drop all into the hands of those life insu-
| rance undertakcrs whose business 1t Is to
l
| and bury them in their own vault-then.
say, you had better get out. of the business
and disgorge the widows. house, you have
swn allowed. But my word Is TO all those who
are legitimately engaged In the business. You
ouPhtto be better than other men, not only
| because Of the responsibilities that rest upon
| you, but because the truth Is ever confronting
| you that your stay OH earth Is uncertain, und
| your life a matter of a few days or years, Do
not those elack-edged letters that come
into your. Office make you thlnk? Does
not the Doctors certificate on the deAth
claim give you thrill. Your periodicals,
your advertisements, and even the ltthography
OF your policies warn you that You are mortal.
According to your own showing the chances
that you will die this year ara at least per
cent, Are you prepared for the tremendous
exgency2 The most condemned man in the
judgment day will be the unprepared life in
tuIapce man, for the simple reason that
his whole business was connected with
human exit, and he cannot say: ~ did not
thiDE' His whole business was to think on
that one thing, Oh. my brother, get insured
for eternity. In consideration OF what Christ
has done in your behalf have the indonture
| this day made out signed and sealed with the
| red seal of the cross.
| But have words Of announcement and com.
fort for those of my hearers who are engaged In
the fire insurance business. You are ordained
| by God TO stand between us and the most
raging element Of nature. We are indebted
to you for what the national board OF un,
| derwriters and the convention OF chiefs OF
the fire department have effected through
your suggestions, and through your encour.
sgement. We are indebted to you for wha,
| you have effected in the construction OF build
irgs and in the change in the habits OF oui
cities; 20 that by scientific principles orderly
companies extlneuish the fire, instead of the
old.time riots which used TO extinguish the
citizens And we are indebted TO you for the
successful demands you have made for the re-
peal Of unjust laws-for. the battle you have
waged against incendiarism and arson-ior tht
fatal blow you have given to the theory thai
corporations have no souls by the cheerful
ness and prompness with which You have
capped through the technicality Of the law.
do not know any class of men In our mids
more hightoned and worthy OF confidenc,
feared that, while your chief business is u
calculate about losses on earthly property, yor
might might without sufficient thought go into tha
sRSf sSSsa.ds %n eatra ha1a4ds sn DC spseis pss
hazards" An uniorgiyen sin in the soul i
Ihine or nitro slycerine. However tho rate.
may be-yea, though the whole earth were paiC
down to you in one solid ,premium-you eau
risk lest it be said hereafter that while in lhi
world you had keen business faculty, whei
you went out OF the world You went out ever
asipgy TNe 5Seh:S q H.cnSoeS @Hl
have united with the sacred writer's to max
us believe that there is coming conhagration
! to sweep across the earth, compared with
which that q Chicago IN 1871, and thu
Of Boston in 1879, and that OF New Yorl
, in 1855, were mere nothing Brooklyn on fire
New York on FIRE! Charleston on frel sa'
! francisco on fire! Canton on frel st Peters.
. burg on 6rel Paris on lire! London on arel
the Andes on firel the Appenlnes on fire.
the Himalayas on fire! What will be peculiar
, | about the day will be that the water wit,
which we put out great fires will itself tax,
flame. and the Mississippi and the Ohio, au,
the ST. Lawrence and Lake Erie, and the At
? lHntic and the Pacific oceans, and tumblinl
Niagara shall, with rcd tongues lick tn
: heavens. The geological heats of the cente
) of the world will burn ont toward the circum
| ference, and the heats OF the outside will burl
. down from the circumference TO the ceuter
and this world will become not only, accord
ing tothe Bible. but according TO science,
living coal, the living coal afterward whiten
ing into asheS, the ashes scattered by th,
breath of the last hurricane, and all that will
LEFT of this glorious planet will be the flakes @
, | ashes fallen on other worlds. o. on tina
= | 1Hy will you he nrpnrnnf Or " i'll vOu ba a tots